A four-node MITC finite element for magneto-electro-elastic multilayered plates

2013

An isoparametric four-node finite element for multilayered magneto-electro-elastic plates analysis is presented. It is based on an equivalent single-layer model, which assumes the first order shear deformation theory and quasi-static behavior for the electric and magnetic fields. First, the electro-magnetic state of the plate is determined in terms of the mechanical primary variables, namely the generalized displacements, by solving the strong form of the magneto-electric governing equations coupled with the electro-magnetic interface continuity conditions and the external boundary conditions. In turn, this result is used into the layers constitutive law to infer the equivalent single-layer…

Slotted Blades Savonius Wind Turbine Analysis by CFD

2013

In this paper a new bucket configuration for a Savonius wind generator is proposed. Numerical analyses are performed to estimate the performances of the proposed configuration by means of the commercial code COMSOL Multiphysics® with respect to Savonius wind turbine with overlap only. Parametric analyses are performed, for a fixed overlap ratio, by varying the slot position; the results show that for slot positioned near the blade root, the Savonius rotor improves performances at low tip speed ratio, evidencing a better starting torque. This circumstance is confirmed by static analyses performed on the slotted blades in order to investigate the starting characteristic of the proposed Savoni…

BEM analysis of a piezoelectric structural health monitoring system for delamination detection

2013

In the present work a piezoelectric based structural health monitoring (SHM) system is analyzed with the aim of assessing the ability of the piezoelectric patch to detect both edge and embedded delaminations proper of flange-skin composite laminated structures. he boundary element model is developed for piezoelectric solids and is implemented by taking advantage of the multidomain technique to model laminated and cracked configurations. A non-linear spring model interface is then implemented in conjunction with an iterative procedure allowing for the simulation of the finite stiffness of the bonding layers as well as of the non-penetration condition of the delamination surfaces. he dynamic …

Numerical Analysis of Piezoelectric Active Repair in the Presence of Frictional Contact Conditions

2013

The increasing development of smart materials, such as piezoelectric and shape memory alloys, has opened new opportunities for improving repair techniques. Particularly, active repairs, based on the converse piezoelectric effect, can increase the life of a structure by reducing the crack opening. A deep characterization of the electromechanical behavior of delaminated composite structures, actively repaired by piezoelectric patches, can be achieved by considering the adhesive layer between the host structure and the repair and by taking into account the frictional contact between the crack surfaces. In this paper, Boundary Element (BE) analyses performed on delaminated composite structures …

Magneto-Electro-Elastic Bimorph Analysis by the Boundary Element Method

2008

The influence of the magnetic configuration on the behavior of magneto-electro-elastic bimorph beams is analyzed by using a boundary element approach. The problem is formulated by using the generalized displacements and generalized tractions. The boundary integral equation formulation is obtained by extending the reciprocity theorem to magneto-electro-elastic problems; it is numerically implemented by using the boundary element method multidomain technique to address problems involving nonhomogeneous configurations. Results under different magnetic configurations are compared highlighting the characteristic features of magnetopiezoelectric behavior particularly focusing on the link between …

Boundary elements analysis of adhesively bonded piezoelectric active repair

2009

Abstract This paper presents the analysis of active piezoelectric patches for cracked structures by the boundary element method. A two-dimensional boundary integral formulation based on the multidomain technique is used to model cracks and to assemble the multi-layered piezoelectric patches to the host damaged structures. The fracture mechanics behavior of the repaired structures is analyzed for both perfect and imperfect interface between patches and host beams. The imperfect interface, representing the adhesive between two different layers, is modeled by using a “spring model” that involves linear relationships between the interface tractions, in normal and tangential directions, and the …

Computational Analysis of the Active Control of Incompressible Airfoil Flutter Vibration Using a Piezoelectric V-Stack Actuator

2021

The flutter phenomenon is a potentially destructive aeroelastic vibration studied for the design of aircraft structures as it limits the flight envelope of the aircraft. The aim of this work is to propose a heuristic design of a piezoelectric actuator-based controller for flutter vibration suppression in order to extend the allowable speed range of the structure. Based on the numerical model of a three degrees of freedom (3DOF) airfoil and taking into account the FEM model of a V-stack piezoelectric actuator, a filtered PID controller is tuned using the population decline swarm optimizer PDSO algorithm, and gain scheduling (GS) of the controller parameters is used to make the control adapti…

An Aircraft Pilot Workload Sensing System

2021

The workload evaluation is of great importance for human error avoidance training, particularly in the use of complex systems that requires different and concurrent activities. The excessive workload harms human performance even with adverse outcomes. In the aviation field, certain flight maneuvers, such as take-off and landing, are characterized by great attention and workload demand to the pilot. Thus, a system capable of measuring pilots’ workload levels during flight could be beneficial to increase pilots’ performance. This work aims to study the initial feasibility of a device called Cockpit Pilot Warning System that monitors the pilot workload level during flight. With this aim, an ex…

On the dynamic behavior of piezoelectric active repair by the boundary element method

2011

The dynamic behavior of piezoelectric active repair bonded on cracked structures is analyzed in this article. The boundary element code used to perform the simulations is implemented in the framework of piezoelectricity in order to model the coupling between the elastic and the electric fields, which represents the most important feature of piezoelectric media. The fracture mechanics problem, i.e. the crack, as well as the bonding layer between the host structure and the active patch is modeled by means of the multidomain technique provided with an interface spring model. More particularly, the spring interface model allows considering the bonding layer as a zero-thickness elastic ply char…

A smart composite-piezoelectric one-dimensional finite element model for vibration damping analysis

2015

A one-dimensional finite element method for generally layered smart beams is presented in this paper. The model implements the first-order shear deformation beam theory and is based on the preliminary analytical condensation of the electric state to the mechanical state. This allows us to establish an effective mechanical beam kinematically equivalent to the original smart beam including the effects of electro-elastic couplings. The contributions of the external electric loads are included in both the equivalent stiffness properties and the equivalent mechanical boundary conditions. Hermite shape functions, which depend on parameters representative of the staking sequence through the equiv…

A Strain Sensing Structural Health Monitoring System for Delaminated Composite Structures

2012

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) for composite materials is becoming a primary task due to their extended use in safety critical applications. Different methods, based on the use of piezoelectric transducers as well as of fiber optics, has been successfully proposed to detect and monitor damage in composite structural components with particular attention focused on delamination cracks.In the present paper a Structural Health Monitoring model, based on the use of piezoelectric sensors, already proposed by the authors for isotropic damaged components, is extended to delaminated composite structures. The dynamic behavior of the host damaged structure and the bonded piezoelectric sensors is m…

Numerical analysis of a piezoelectric structural health monitoring system for composite flange-skin delamination detection

2013

Abstract In this paper, a piezoelectric based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system is proposed to detect skin/stiffener debonding and delamination cracks proper of laminated composite structures. The SHM system is analyzed by means of a boundary element code implemented in the framework of piezoelectricity. The multidomain technique, coupled with an interface spring model, is used to model laminated composite structures as well as the bonding between the host delaminated structure and the piezoelectric sensor. Static sensitivity analyses are firstly performed on a drop-ply delaminated structure in order to identify a suitable configuration for the sensor. Then, the dynamic electromecha…

Application of the 3-D boundary element method to delaminated composite structures

2013

A three-dimensional boundary element model for anisotropic solids is presented to study the fracture mechanics behavior of delaminated composite structures. The multi-domain technique is implemented to model the layered configurations and the cracks occurring at bi-material interface. The Modified Crack Closure Integral technique is implemented to characterize the fracture mechanics behavior of delaminations in terms of the total energy release rate and mode mix phase angles. Validating analyses, performed on different delaminated configurations, have shown the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Moreover, some original results are presented to investigate the effects of the stacking se…

Nonlinear model based particle swarm optimization of PID shimmy damping control

2016

The present study aims to investigate the shimmy stability behavior of a single wheeled nose landing gear system. The system is supposed to be equipped with an electromechanical actuator capable to control the shimmy vibrations. A Proportional-Integrative-Derivative (PID) controller, tuned by using the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) procedure, is here proposed to actively damp the shimmy vibration. Time-history results for some test cases are reported and commented. Stochastic analysis is last presented to assess the robustness of the control system.

A beam finite element for magneto-electro-elastic multilayered composite structures

2012

Abstract A new finite element based upon an elastic equivalent single-layer model for shear deformable and straight magneto-electro-elastic generally laminated beam is presented. The element has six degrees of freedom represented by the displacement components and the cross-section rotation of its two nodes. The magneto-electric boundary conditions enter the discrete problem as work-equivalent forces and moments while the electro-magnetic state characterization constitutes a post-processing step. The element possesses the superconvergence property for the static problem of beams with uniform cross-section and homogenous material properties along the beam axis direction. Moreover, it is free…

Analytical solution for the magneto-electro-elastic bimorph beam forced vibrations problem

2009

Based on the Timoshenko beam theory and on the assumption that the electric and magnetic fields can be treated as steady, since elastic waves propagate very slowly with respect to electromagnetic ones, a general analytical solution for the transient analysis of a magneto-electro-elastic bimorph beam is obtained. General magneto-electric boundary conditions can be applied on the top and bottom surfaces of the beam, allowing us to study the response of the bilayer structure to electromagnetic stimuli. The model reveals that the magneto-electric loads enter the solution as an equivalent external bending moment per unit length and as time-dependent mechanical boundary conditions through the def…

Structural Health Monitoring of Cracked Beam by the Dual Reciprocity Boundary Element Method

2012

In this paper a 2D boundary element model is used to characterize the transient response of a piezoelectric based structural health monitoring system for cracked beam. The BE model is written for piezoelectric non-homogeneous problem employing generalized displacements. The dual reciprocity method is used to write the mass matrix in terms of boundary parameters only. The multidomain boundary element technique is implemented to model non-homogeneous and cracked configuration, unilateral interface conditions are also considered to prevent the physical inconsistence of the overlapping between interface nodes belonging to the crack surfaces. To assess the reliability and the effectiveness of th…

Adaptive BEM for Low Noise Propeller Design

2009

A potential-based Boundary Element Method is presented for the aerodynamic and acoustic design of propel- lers at on- and off-design point conditions. Using an adaptive method, a family of airfoil sections is selected to produce the required performance (thrust, torque and efficiency versus advance ratio) at different cruise flight levels. Climb condi- tions are also considered in order to check the off-design point performance. Once the available airfoil data have been stored in a database, the code processes the families of airfoils to generate a complete geometry for a propeller of the specified performance with an optimized noise emission. The computational scheme adjusts the blade geom…

Analytical solution for composite layered beam subjected to uniformly distributed load

2016

ABSTRACTThe article presents an analytical theory for multilayered composite beams subjected to transverse uniformly distributed loads. The formulation is based on a layerwise model characterized by third-order approximation of the axial displacements and fourth-order approximation of the transverse displacements. The layerwise kinematical model is rewritten in terms of generalized variables. The beam equilibrium equations, expressed in terms of stress resultant, allow writing the boundary value governing problem. The layerwise fields are obtained by postprocessing steps. The main advantage is to ensure the accuracy level associated to the layerwise formulations preserving the computational…

A two-node finite element for linear magneto-electric laminated timoshenko beams

2012

A new finite element is presented for linear magnetoelectric straight laminated beam subject to the assumptions of quasi-steady electromagnetic state. The mechanical model is based upon Timoshenko beam theory to account for shear deformation influences. The electromagnetic stacking sequence is proved to enter the equivalent elastic problem by affecting both the stiffness properties of the beam, in terms of axial and flexural coupling, and by modifying the mechanical boundary conditions as distributed loads. Shape functions are first written for the generalized beam mean-line kinematical quantities in such a way the obtained strain field fulfills the homogeneous governing equations of the eq…

An analytical solution for multilayered beams subjected to ends loads

2014

An alternative model for multilayered beams undergoing axial, shear and bending loads applied at the beam's ends is developed. It is based on a layer-wise kinematics, which inherently fulfills the equilibrium equations at layer level and the interface continuity conditions. This kinematics is suitably expressed by introducing a set of generalized variables representative of the beam midline displacement field, which become the primary variables of the problem governing equations. As a consequence, the proposed beam model exhibits the computational characteristics of an equivalent single layer model and possesses the accuracy of layer-wise beam theories, as well. Closed form solutions for di…

An equivalent single-layer approach for free vibrations analysis of smart laminated thick composite plates

2012

An equivalent single-layer model for the free vibration analysis of smart laminated plates is presented. The electric and magnetic fields are assumed to be quasi-static and third-order in-plane kinematics is employed to adequately take the shear influence into account when the plate thickness increases. The model governing equations are the plate equations of motion written in terms of mechanical primary variables and effective stiffness coefficients, which take the multifield coupling effects into account. The model shows that the surfaces magneto-electric boundary conditions enter the definitions of the laminate forces and moments resultants. Moreover, it reveals that new stiffness terms,…

Human Heart-Related Indexes Behavior Study for Aircraft Pilots Allowable Workload Level Assessment

2022

This study aimed to evaluate workload by detecting Heart Rate Variability (HRV) indexes in a sample of 34 pilots (with a mean age of 33 years) while performing simulated flight exercises. A one-way ANOVA with repeated measures was performed to assess the changes of the physiological measures in five standard maneuvers associated with different workload levels. The results show that all the indexes, but the Low Frequency to High Frequency ratio index (LF/HF), have a well-defined trend between the baseline and the en-route phase and with the three phases takeoff, steady turn, and landing. This study, as main findings, provides evidence of a differentiation among low, medium, and high workload…

Structural Health Monitoring Procedure for Composite Structures through the use of Artificial Neural Networks

2015

In this paper different architectures of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) for structural damage detection are studied. The main objective is to investigate an ANN able to detect and localize damage without any prior knowledge on its characteristics so as to serve as a real-time data processor for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems. Two different architectures are studied: the standard feed-forward Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP) and the Radial Basis Function (RBF) ANNs. The training data are given, in terms of a Damage Index ℑD, properly defined using a piezoelectric sensor signal output to obtain suitable information on the damage position and dimensions. The electromechanical respon…

Nonlocal model for a magneto-electro-elastic nanoplate

2013

A mathematical model based on nonlocal third-order shear deformation plate theory has been developed to evaluate the mechanical and electromagnetic behavior of magneto-electro-elastic nanoplates. Two types of magneto-electro-elastic composites have been considered, all of them combination of Barium Titanate sheets, that represents the piezoelectric phase, and Cobalt Ferrite, that is the piezomagnetic component. Setting magneto-electric boundary conditions on each laminate, it has been possible to extrapolate and to analyze free vibrations frequencies for all considered plates, allowing to do objective assessments on what factors influence laminate modes and, especially, how these vary in th…

Forced vibration analysis of magneto-electro-elastic beam

2009

Boundary Element Formulation for Unified Analysis of High-Speed Trains

2007

BE contact analysis of delamination cracks actively repaired trhough piezoelectric active patches

2009

Active repair technology applied to delaminated composite structures

2009

The main target of the present paper is represented by the fracture mechanics charac-terization of delaminated composite structures actively repaired through piezoelectric patches. A boundary element code, formulated for anisotropic piezoelectric solids, including, as limiting case, the applicability to linear elastic anisotropic materials has been then imple-mented. The modeling of the delaminated composite structures as well as of the assembled structures, made of the damaged components and the patches, has been achieved through the multidomain technique. Moreover, to take into account for the adhesive layer between the host structures and the piezoelectric patches, a "spring-model" has b…

BIE-based aeroacoustic design procedure

2009

A propeller low noise design procedure based on boundary integral equation is presented. The aerodynamic field is computed via a potential-based boundary element method for lifting body while the aeroacoustic emitted field is calculated on the basis of the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation. Families of airfoils sections are aerodynamically processed to select the ones that meet the requested performance. Successively, the airfoil sections characterized by the lowest noise emission, among the previously selected ones, are chosen to built the propeller blade. Eventually the whole propeller aeroacoustic performances are analyzed. A propeller low noise design procedure based on boundary integra…